Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Europe 17 Day 3&4.5 Lisbon

Our flight from Dubai to Lisbon was almost uneventful, aside from not getting the seats we had booked, but were jammed in between two people in the centre. The road our hotel was in was blocked off by police. Clearly something was happening but we weren't sure what it was. We walked down the steep hill with our cases. We noticed some people with red carnations. Later I found out from Perth blogger Sami's post about it being Anzac Day in Australia and Freedom Day in Portugal.

We caught a taxi for not a great distance to our hotel. The receptionist was very humourous. We complained that we had a double bed and not twin beds, as requested. He had paperwork that said double and we had paperwork that said twin. He suggested we went out and have coffee and although she would not be happy about it, the maid would saw the bed in half and remake them. The room was modest but clean and functional with a nice outlook.

The large roundabout that you can't really see, contained in the centre a huge statue of Marques de Pombal (1699-1782). He held a post equivalent to Prime Minister for 27 years and lead the country very well, including outstanding work after the earthquake of 1755. I think I have a photo of the statue for later.

There was a nice roof top garden on our level, just metres from our room at the Fenix Garden Hotel.

We went out for a late afternoon wander along the grand Avenue da Liberdade and found a minimart in a side street where we bought wine and a few other things after extracting some euros from an electric bank.

There were some steep hills at times. Little did we know what lay in wait for us the next day. Remains of a disused tram line.

Public transport is well used in Portugal, but people seemed to wait for a long time for buses. The traffic was quite congested at times.

We had dinner nearby, I can't remember where, and had a good night's sleep.

Next morning at the hotel desk we bought two day passes for the hop on hop off buses, which departed from an area of the parkland across the road from our hotel.

Of four different routes we chose the longest tour first, the orange route. We more or less followed the Targus River westward to the delightful holiday area of Cascais. This aqueduct was completed in about 1750 and brought water in from the Cascais area.

The 25th of April Bridge, 2.3 kilometres long.

Jeronimos Monastery.

General photos along the way and around Cascais.

I feel at home, with the noxious weed lantana growing here too.

We stopped for the driver to have a 20 minute break at a nice park in Cascais.

A ramps for ducks and possibly tortoise.

Don't ask me.

Eucalipto, eucalyptus or gum tree to us.

Blenem Tower.

St Julian Fort.

A war memorial.

Monument to sailors and explorers.

A little colour in a road underpass.

We returned to where we departed and found a nice cafe for a late lunch.

22 comments:

I have to ask - did the maid saw your bed in half? And doesn't a bit of humour ease a fraught situation. Lisbon looks intriguing. And quite different to the ignorant pictures I had in my head (from where I know not). Thank you.

EC, there were some wood shavings under the bed, so I guess the maid did saw the bed in half. I am intrigued as to how it Lisbon was different to what you expected. Does it look like a wealthy country? It is not compared to the rest of Europe. There were many old cars on the street and I expect they were driven by the comfortably off.

Hels, we might have loved it if we went inside. I have subsequently seen photos of the interior. Our preference was to get an overview of where we visited, rather than specifics such as museums etc. More time, and we have gotten down to visiting specific attractions.

oh they're all wonderful pics, thanks for sharing your trip with me/us.re the roof garden, just read some country has decreed that all roofs of new buildings must have either solar panels or a garden. coulda been Portugal.I hope that maid/carpenter got danger money.wishing you all good stuff.

Had to laugh at the hotel receptionist's comment, at least she was humorous.The hotel's rooftop garden looks great.Would you recommend the hop-on hop-off Orange route?In September, I'm meeting up with 3 Australians on their first trip to Lisbon and would like to take them on one of the tours.Thanks for the mention Andrew, regarding the Freedom day celebrations on the 25th of April.

Sami, definitely the Orange route. It is about two hours. You see a lot of places, including the lovely Cascais. There is a break at a park there, time to go to the toilet. The other two trips we took had mostly been covered by the Orange route, just not the old part of town which one route did cover........very slowly in heavy traffic. We did not do it, but there is a privately run tram going over all over the tram tracks in Lisbon, including up to the fort above Lisbon. Don't forget the elevator for visitors, to get down to Rua de Augusta. As short time tourists, we loved Portugal.

My public diary, not my private one. I live in a highrise apartment building in inner Melbourne. My interests are varied but top of the list are old buildings, history and public transport. You will find plenty of personal experiences to read in my blog too. Just be aware I am not an historian, amateur or otherwise. While I make some effort to be accurate, I don't do proper methodical research so I advise you check all details on your own behalf should you wish to quote me. Your comments are very welcome, but try to be nice to my fragile yet overblown ego. I enjoy receiving email. You can find my eddress in my complete profile.